Opera Idols

The blog of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Eastern Region, featuring interviews with judges and singers and providing background information about the application process and auditions. We also have great articles on opera in general

A Metropolitan Opera company member since his debut in 1995, acclaimed bass Richard Bernstein has appeared with the MET in 317 performances and 95 international live broadcasts to date. He has also sung leading roles with companies around the country and around the world.

In the 2014-15 season, Mr. Bernstein returns to the Metropolitan opera for his 20th consecutive season. He will sing and cover performances of Un Ballo in Maschera, Carmen, Ernani, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and The Merry Widow.

In 2013-14, Mr. Bernstein took part in two of the Met’s Live in HD international broadcasts: as Zaretski in Eugene Onegin and as Angelotti in Tosca. Met audiences also saw him this season in Der Rosenkavalier, Wozzeck, and Madama Butterfly.

Mr. Bernstein’s versatility is displayed in the diverse mix of repertoire he has performed and covered over the years with the Met, from classic operas to contemporary works, including roles in Carmen, Satyagraha, Faust, Das Rheingold, Siegfried, La Bohème, Simon Boccanegra, Die Zauberflöte, Tosca, Hamlet, From the House of the Dead, Armida, Ariadne auf Naxos, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Carmen, Manon Lescaut, War and Peace, Macbeth, Eugene Onegin, A View From the Bridge, and Wozzeck.

Mr. Bernstein has also performed leading roles around the country and abroad. In particular, he has performed his signature roles of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) and Leporello (Don Giovanni) worldwide. Last season saw him garner warm praise for his first leading Wagnerian role: Daland in Der Fliegende Holländer at the Princeton Festival. 2012-13 also included successful debuts as Tiresias in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex (Cincinnati May Festival) and Herod in Berlioz’s L'enfance du Christ (at Carnegie Hall). In 2011-12, he returned to Los Angeles Opera – the company of his operatic debut – to sing Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring under Maestro James Conlon’s baton. He made his July 2010 debut with Opera Fairbanks as Leporello, followed by a turn as Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro at the Ravinia Festival. Other notable roles include Mephistopheles in Faust, Colline (La bohème), Sancho Panza in Don Quichotte, Mustafà (L'italiana in Algeri), Olin Blitch in Susannah, Frank Maurent (Street Scene), Orest in Elektra, Alidoro (La Cenerentola), and Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) for companies such as Seattle Opera, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Central City Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Pacific, the Klangbogen Festival in Vienna, Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, and the Savonlinna Festival in Finland.

Mr. Bernstein’s repertoire boasts a number of contemporary American works. He created roles in two world premieres by composer Tobias Picker: Orville Mason in An American Tragedy at the Metropolitan Opera, and Laurent in Thérèse Raquin at Dallas Opera. In addition, he sang the role of Marco in William Bolcom’s A View From the Bridge at both its Metropolitan Opera premiere in 2002-03 and at Washington Opera in 2007-08.

On DVD, Mr. Bernstein appears in the Met productions of La fanciulla del West (Deutsche Grammaphon), Simon Boccanegra and Salome (Sony), and Manon Lescaut (EMI); he also sings Zaretski in Decca’s Grammy-nominated release of Eugene Onegin (Best Opera Recording, 2008). He can be heard Laurent on the CD of Tobias Picker's Thérèse Raquin (Chandos Records).

Additionally, Mr. Bernstein has collaborated with a host of major American symphony orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic to the Chicago Symphony to the Philadelphia Orchestra, and has been a guest at many prestigious festivals, including the Lincoln Center, Spoleto, and Tanglewood Music Festivals. Mr. Bernstein also regularly judges regional and district auditions for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.He has had the privilege of working with some of the most important conductors of the day, including: James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Zubin Mehta, Valery Gergiev, James Conlon, Christoph Eschenbach, Leonard Slatkin, Sir Andrew Davis, Donald Runnicles, Patrick Summers, and Fabio Luisi.

Born and raised in New York, Mr. Bernstein is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Upon graduation, he was invited to join the Los Angeles Opera’s Resident Artist program in its inaugural season and remained an L.A. company member for over ten years.

MetOpera National Council Eastern Region

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is a program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. The auditions are held annually in fourteen Regions of the United States and Canada.

Many of the world’s foremost singers, among them Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, and Eric Owens have received awards from the National Council.

I want to tell the donors how much they mean to me and all the singers that they help. They are a lifeline for us and I can personally say that, through the Met competition, they helped me to just keep going in an extremely difficult industry. Through their giving, they gave me the means to be able to put food on the table, keep studying, and keep singing. I will always, ALWAYS be grateful for their generosity. - Tenor Joseph Dennis - 2015 Grand Finals Winner